Sectional door and guard rail assembly

Abstract

A sectional door such as a garage door of the type having a plurality of hingedly connected panels adapted to be pivoted relative to one another generally about interior edges of facing lateral ends during opening and closure of the door. One of each pair of facing ends of the panels is equipped with a first rail having a front wall and defining an interior pocket. The facing end of the adjacent panel is equipped with a second rail having an arcuate segment extending into the pocket of the first rail in overlapping relationship to the front wall thereof when the adjacent panels are in aligned orientation. When the adjacent panels are pivoted relative to one another generally about their interior edges, the arcuate segment of the second rail moves outward of the pocket of the first rail to span the angular gap formed between the facing ends of the adjacent panels.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows: 
     
       1. A guard rail assembly for a sectional door of the type having a pluraltiy of panels with facing lateral ends of adjacent panels being hingedly connected and having interior and exterior edges, said panels being hingedly connected for relative rotation generally about the interior edges of the facing lateral ends between an aligned position and a rotated position, said guard rail assembly comprising: a first rail mounted to a lateral end of a first panel; a second rail mounted to a lateral end of a second panel adjacent the first panel facing the lateral end of the first panel; said first rail having front wall means extending from the exterior edge of the lateral end of the first panel and terminating in a front foot; said first rail having a pocket behind said front wall means openly facing said second rail; said pocket having a bottom area and a top area; said second rail having an arcuate segment extending to the bottom area of said pocket when the first and second panels are in the aligned position and extending into the top area of said pocket when the first and second panels are in the rotated position whereby the arcuate segment spans the gap between the lateral end of the second panel and the front foot of the front wall means of the first rail, said arcuate segment having an outside wall located adjacent the front foot when the panels are in either the aligned or rotated positions. 
     
     
       2. The guard rail assembly of claim 1 wherein: said second rail has base means in abutting relationship to the lateral end of the second panel, said base means providing a sill for receipt of the front foot of the front wall means of the first rail; said arcuate segment extending from said base means proximate the front foot of the front wall means. 
     
     
       3. The guard rail assembly of claim 2 wherein: said arcuate segment has a contour conforming to the path of travel of said front foot of the front wall means of the first rail in movement of the first and second panels between the aligned position and the rotated position. 
     
     
       4. The guard rail assembly of claim 3 including: rear wall means on said first rail extending from the interior edge of the lateral end of said first panel and terminating in a rear foot; socket means located on the base means of the second rail for accommodation of the rear foot of the first rail during relative rotation of the first and second panels. 
     
     
       5. The guard rail assembly of claim 4 wherein: the pocket of the first rail is defined by a first leg extending from the front foot toward the lateral end of the first panel, a second leg extending from the rear foot toward the lateral end of the first panel, and a platform in abutting relationship to the lateral end of the first panel and connecting the first and second legs. 
     
     
       6. The guard rail assembly of claim 5 including: rib means extended from the platform of the first rail into the first panel to secure the first rail to the first panel. 
     
     
       7. The guard rail assembly of claim 6 including: rib means extending from the base of the second rail into the second panel to secure the second rail to the second panel. 
     
     
       8. The guard rail assembly of claim 7 wherein: each panel has a core of an expanded plastic foam material, skin means covering the exterior surface of the core, and a wooden layer covering the interior surface of the core, said rib means of the first rail extended into the core of one panel and the rib means of the second rail extended into the core of another panel. 
     
     
       9. A guard rail assembly for a sectional door of the type having a plurality of panels with facing lateral ends of adjacent panels being hingedly connected and having interior and exterior edges, said panels being hingedly connected for relative rotation generally about the interior edges of the facing lateral ends between an aligned position and a rotated position, said guard rail assembly comprising: a first rail mounted to a lateral end of a first panel; a second rail mounted to a lateral end of a second panel adjacent the first panel facing the lateral end of the first panel; said first rail having front wall means extending from the exterior edge of the lateral end of the first panel, and a pocket behind said front wall means openly facing said second rail; said pocket having a bottom area and a top area; said second rail having a segment extending to the bottom area of said pocket when the first and second panels are in the aligned position and extending into the top area of said pocket when the first and second panels are in the rotated position whereby the segment spans the gap between the lateral end of the second panel and the front wall means of the first rail; said segment having an outside wall located adjacent the front wall means when the panels are in either the aligned or rotated positions. 
     
     
       10. The guard rail assembly of claim 9 wherein: said second rail has base means in abutting relationship to the lateral end of the second panel, said base means providing a sill engageable with a part of the front wall means of the first rail. 
     
     
       11. The guard rail assembly of claim 10 wherein: said segment has an arcuate contour conforming to the path of travel of the front wall means of the first rail in movement of the first and second panels between the aligned position and the rotated position. 
     
     
       12. The guard rail assembly of claim 9 including: rear wall means on said first rail extending from the interior edge of the lateral end of said first panel and terminating in a rear foot; socket means located on the base means of the second rail for accommodation of the rear foot of the first rail during relative rotation of the first and second panels. 
     
     
       13. The guard rail assembly of claim 9 wherein: the pocket of the first rail is defined by a first leg extending toward the lateral end of the first panel, a second leg extending toward the lateral end of the first panel, and a platform in abutting relationship to the lateral end of the first panel and connecting the first and second legs. 
     
     
       14. The guard rail assembly of claim 13 including: rib means extended from the platform of the first rail into the first panel to secure the first rail to the first panel. 
     
     
       15. The guard rail assembly of claim 6 including: rib means on the second rail extended into the second panel. 
     
     
       16. The guard rail assembly of claim 7 wherein: each panel has a core of an expanded plastic foam material, skin means covering the exterior surface of the core, and wooden layer covering the interior surface of the core, said rib means of the first rail extended into the core of one panel and the rib means of the second rail extended into the core of another panel.